Volatile day for Wall Street

By Kate GibsonMarketWatchSeptember 06. 2013 9:33PMNEW YORK — U.S. stocks finished with little change Friday, but with the Dow Jones industrial average halting a four-week losing streak, as Wall Street’s attention shifted from developments related to Syria to the impact of the jobs report on U.S. monetary policy.

Halting its longest winning streak since the middle of July, the Dow ended the session off 14.98 points, or 0.1 percent, at 14,922.50. That was 0.8 percent higher than last Friday’s close.

Reports indicating intensified rhetoric between Russia and the United States on Syria’s use of chemical gas sent stocks skidding in early trade. Losses were gradually erased as President Obama reiterated that the U.S. response would be “limited and proportional.”

Tallying a weekly gain of 1.4 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index held steady at 1,655.17. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.23 points to 3,660.01, leaving it 2 percent ahead for the week.